By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Jan 23: The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture is in talks with the Ministry of Finance to allow travel agents to use insurance guarantees as an alternative to bank guarantees, a move aimed at strengthening consumer protection following a surge in complaints against Umrah travel operators.
According to the national news agency Bernama, Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing said the proposal is still under discussion and will not be implemented immediately.
Tiong announced the development at the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) Membership Summit 2026 held yesterday (Jan 22) in Kuala Lumpur.
“I have been talking to the Minister of Finance to look into this and allow travel agents and tour operators to use insurance guarantees,” he said.
In a statement on Jan 18, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture said it is reviewing the existing requirement for Umrah package operators to provide a minimum bank guarantee of RM250,000, citing increasingly serious and frequent cases of consumer fraud.
Under the proposed framework, Tiong said the bank guarantee requirement for large-scale operators would be increased in line with the size and scale of their operations.
He also urged Matta to play a proactive role in explaining the rationale behind the measures to its members, stressing that the move is not intended to penalise legitimate businesses.
Acknowledging industry concerns over the stricter requirements, Tiong apologised for the inconvenience caused, saying the decision was driven by the high volume of complaints received by the ministry.
He said the enforcement of bank guarantee requirements, particularly for outbound travel operators, is intended to ensure swift refunds to affected consumers should problems arise.
Meanwhile, Tiong stressed that Malaysia’s tourism industry must not compromise standards and consumer trust in pursuit of growth, noting that trust is fundamental to tourism’s success as visitor confidence directly drives repeat visits, recommendations and the country’s global reputation as a destination. — DayakDaily
